Severe weather such as tropical storms, hail, tornadoes, wildfires, and hurricanes has recently destroyed thousands of businesses and homes. Hurricanes are particularly problematic as multiple storms develop each season, and the torrential rains and heavy winds of each storm launch windborne objects that damage homes, vehicles and other property. According to the Insurance Information Institute, insurance companies paid approximately $40.6 billion from damage cause by Hurricane Katrina of August 2005 alone. Further, over three million claims were made in 2005 for personal property loss, which excludes vehicles.
Since these types of natural disasters occur repeatedly, insurance companies in states prone to severe weather are unsuccessful in maintaining a profit and being self-sustaining. Therefore, property owners suffer catastrophic losses which cannot be fully recovered from insurance companies. Thus, it is most desirable to protect personal and real property from damage during severe weather.
The conventional method for protecting personal and real property in severe weather is to cover the property with a tarp and to place plywood over windows, doors and other openings. While this method is inexpensive, it is also ineffective. Frangible openings in buildings, such as windows and doors usually succumb to the force of hurricanes wherein the glass cracks, break or even burst from windborne debris and changes in air pressure.
What is needed then is a method and apparatus for temporarily encapsulating a frangible element in an opening in a building so as to protect the building from severe weather.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a weather protection device that overcomes the aforesaid and other disadvantages.